Sermon Illustration

In the days when the great evangelist Moody was preaching in Chicago, a man, partially under the influence of liquor, seeing the warm lights of Moody’s tabernacle, staggered up the steps to the front door. Upon opening it, he saw no one within, but he did see the motto hanging above the pulpit: “God Is Love.” The man slammed the door, staggered down the steps, and muttered to himself, “God is love? God is not love. If God were love, He would love me, and He hates me.” He continued his uneven walk around the block, still muttering to himself. But those words began to burn images into his benumbed thinking. A power seemed to draw him back to the tabernacle. With the throngs that were now making their way into the tabernacle, he soon found himself seated inside, and Mr. Moody was preaching. The sermon over, Moody made his way to the door to shake hands with the people as they left. But this man didn’t leave. He continued to sit in his seat, weeping. Moody came over to him, put his arm...

Famished with thirst, the weary traveler scanned the horizon once more for a trace of life. Charles Breyfogle had come to Death Valley in 1864 seeking rich deposits of silver ore rumored to lie in this area, but now his dreams of wealth had disappeared. Where could he get a drink of water? Suddenly across his bleary vision swam a glimpse of something green. Did this mean water? He quickened his stumbling pace. A reddish hill slope lay before him, and as he struggled up it he kicked a rock. When he looked down at it he could scarcely believe his eyes. The rock was yellow with gold! All around him was float rock with rich streaks of the yellow metal. A nearby ledge showed the ragged teeth of a quartz vein with more golden tracings. This was a bonanza! There was enough gold in sight to make Breyfogle the wealthiest man in the world. But what could he do with it? Death was near. More than gold he needed water and food. He picked up a few pieces of the yellow ore and trudged on to the g...

Let's suppose that you want to be able to get where you're going faster. So, you decide to sleep in the garage. You haul a sleeping bag out there and plop it right beside the car. Your family members begin to question your strange behavior. "Why don't you sleep inside where it's more comfortable?" they ask. "I'm trying to speed up my life," you reply. When those words are received with rolled eyes, you add, "I'm trying to become a car." Your family members are incredulous. "You can't become a car by sleeping in the garage!" they exclaim as they head for the yellow pages and turn to the section labeled psychiatrists. That's absurd, you say. And you're right. But many people attend church every week, thinking that that makes them Christians. It doesn't.

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He placed one scoop of clay upon another until a form lay lifeless on the ground. All of the Garden's inhabitants paused to witness the event. Hawks hovered. Giraffes stretched. Trees bowed. Butterflies paused on petals and watched. "You will love me, nature," God said. "I made you that way. You will obey me, universe. For you were designed to do so. You will reflect my glory, skies, for that is how you were created. But this one will be like me. This one will be able to choose." All were silent as the Creator reached into himself and removed something yet unseen. A seed. "It's called 'choice.' The seed of choice." Creation stood in silence and gazed upon the lifeless form. An angel spoke, "But what if he..." "What if he chooses not to love?" the Creator finished. "Come, I will show you." Unbound by today, God and the angel walked into the realm of tomorrow. "There, see the fruit of the seed of c...

After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church's pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak. "A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast," he began, "when a fast-approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to the shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized." The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers wh...